OIL PRICES: ABOVE $70

REUTERS, BLOOMBERG - Oil prices fell on Friday ahead of the end of the peak-demand winter season in the northern hemisphere, although ongoing supply cuts and the weakening dollar offered broad support to the market.

Brent crude futures were at $70.22 per barrel at 0556 GMT, down 20 cents, or 0.3 percent, from their last close. Brent the previous day marked its highest since December, 2014 at $71.28.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $65.38 a barrel, down 13 cents, or 0.2 percent from their previous close. WTI also touched its highest since December, 2014 in the last session at $66.66.

Georgi Slavov, head of research at commodities brokerage Marex Spectron, said despite a generally healthy outlook for oil demand, there were short-term headwinds due to the upcoming end of the peak-demand period during the northern hemisphere winter season.

Many refiners shut down after winter for maintenance, resulting in lower orders for crude, their most important feedstock.

"Demand is starting to weaken as ... refining capacity was taken out of the market," Slavov said.

U.S. bank Jefferies said "a fairly heavy maintenance season" was starting in the United States, adding there was also upcoming "scheduled maintenance in the Middle East (including the 400,000 barrels per day Aramco Jubail refinery)."

This is reflecting in oil inventories.

"Global oil stocks built overall in the week ending Jan. 19, as both crude and product stocks saw small builds," U.S. bank Morgan Stanley said.

On the supply side, U.S. oil production is expected to hit 10 million bpd soon, after reaching 9.88 million bpd last week.

Output has grown by more than 17 percent since mid-2016 and is now on par with top exporter Saudi Arabia's.

Only Russia produces more, averaging 10.98 million bpd in 2017.

Rising U.S. output threatens to undermine the supply restraint led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia, aimed at propping up prices.

The cuts, coupled with demand growth, have contributed to a near 60 percent rise in oil prices since mid-2017 as excess crude inventories have been drawn down.

Crude oil futures have also received support from a weakening dollar.

The U.S. currency has lost almost 13 percent in value against a basket of other leading currencies since the start of 2017.

As oil is traded in dollars, swings in the greenback can also impact oil demand as it affects the price of fuel purchases for countries using other currencies. "The weakening of the U.S. dollar against a basket of global currencies... has positioned 2018 to lead off with strong levels of oil demand," said BMI Research.

REUTERS - Brent crude futures were at $69.79 a barrel at 0749 GMT, down 17 cents from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $64.45 a barrel, down 2 cents from their last settlement.

REUTERS - Brent crude futures were at $68.89 a barrel at 0315 GMT, up 25 cents, or 0.4 percent, from their last close. Brent on Jan. 15 rose to $70.37, its highest since December 2014. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $63.61 a barrel, up 24 cents, or 0.4 percent, from their last settlement. WTI climbed to $64.89 on Jan. 16, also its highest since December 2014.

OPEC - HH Sheikh Sabah praised all 24 participating countries, both OPEC and non-OPEC, for their joint efforts towards restoring much needed oil market stability, as well as keeping faith in the collaborative approach which is at the heart of the ‘Declaration of Cooperation’.

REUTERS - Brent crude futures were at $68.78 at 0128 GMT, down 53 cents, or 0.8 percent, from their last close. On Monday, they hit their highest since December, 2014 at $70.37 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $63.36 a barrel, down 59 cents, or 0.9 percent, from their last settlement. WTI marked a December-2014 peak of $64.89 a barrel on Tuesday.

REUTERS - Brent crude futures LCOc1 were at $69.23 a barrel at 0808 GMT, up 8 cents from their last close, but down from a high of $69.37 earlier in the day. Brent on Monday rose to $70.37 a barrel, its highest since December 2014, the start of a three-year oil price slump. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $63.84 a barrel, down from a high of $63.89 earlier, but up 11 cents from their last settlement. WTI hit $64.89 on Tuesday, also the highest since December 2014.

EIA - Brent crude oil prices averaged $54/b in 2017 and are forecast to average $60/b in 2018 and $61/b in 2019. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil spot prices are forecast to average $4/b less than Brent prices in both 2018 and 2019. EIA’s forecast for the average WTI price for December 2018 of $58/b should be considered in the context of NYMEX contract values for December 2018 delivery. NYMEX contract values traded during the five-day period ending January 4 suggest that a range of $40/b to $85/b encompasses the market expectation for WTI prices in December 2018 at the 95% confidence level.

Chronicle:

AOG - The Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA) is to invest around $22bn on new energy projects across the next five years, with the renewables sector accounting for an increasing share of electricity generation, according to CEO Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer.

TRANSCANADA - TransCanada Corporation (TSX:TRP) (NYSE:TRP) (TransCanada or the Company) announced net income attributable to common shares for fourth quarter 2017 of $861 million or $0.98 per share compared to a net loss of $358 million or $0.43 per share for the same period in 2016. For the year ended December 31, 2017, net income attributable to common shares was $3.0 billion or $3.44 per share compared to net income of $124 million or $0.16 per share in 2016.

ROSATOM - February 13, 2018, Moscow. – ROSATOM and the Ministry of Scientific Research and Technological Innovations of the Republic of Congo today signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of peaceful uses of atomic energy.

FRB - Industrial production edged down 0.1 percent in January following four consecutive monthly increases. Manufacturing production was unchanged in January. Mining output fell 1.0 percent, with all of its major component industries recording declines, while the index for utilities moved up 0.6 percent. At 107.2 percent of its 2012 average, total industrial production was 3.7 percent higher in January than it was a year earlier. Capacity utilization for the industrial sector fell 0.2 percentage point in January to 77.5 percent, a rate that is 2.3 percentage points below its long-run (1972–2017) average.